Avoid Facebook Phishing Schemes
In the past few months, I have noticed a huge increase in the number of Facebook accounts being hacked or hijacked by hackers using Facebook Phishing. To understand this, let’s first take a quick look at why Facebook accounts have become such a big target for hackers.
Why are Facebook accounts being hacked?…
Facebook now has over 500 million users and provides such incredible demographic information that advertisers now turn to it for targeted advertising. The same affiliate marketers who previously resorted to email spam and blog comment spam to force their message out into the public, have now discovered that by hijacking Facebook accounts, they can send their marketing message to the affiliates’ friends and connections. of those accounts. These “spam” messages are more likely to be seen, read, or even clicked on, because they appear to come from a trusted source (the original account holder).
How exactly are these Facebook accounts being hacked and hijacked?…
This is really just a new delivery method for an old phishing scheme. Phishing occurs when you enter your login credentials on a fake Facebook login page or download malicious software onto your computer. This can result in messages or links being automatically sent to a large number of your friends. These messages or links are usually advertisements that encourage your friends to view videos or products.
The hacker sets up a fictitious Facebook profile and sends out hundreds of friend requests and waits for the requests to be accepted. Once some are accepted, they send deceptive messages via Facebook chat or by posting on the wall of their new Facebook friends. These messages appear as an incentive as…
“hey, what exactly are you doing in this video (click here)… shame on you…”
“this website has some kind of bug and is giving away iPads. Get there fast before you miss out (click here)…”
The above examples would include a link that leads to a page that appears to be a Facebook account login screen. The user assumes they were logged out for some reason (which occasionally happens) and re-enters their Facebook username and password. What they don’t realize is that the page did not belong to Facebook and they simply gave their username and password to a hacker.
Once the hacker has collected the user’s Facebook account credentials, they simply log in to the account, change the password, and start sending ads for affiliate programs as well as further invitations to reveal their account information. This process continues to spread because people are simply not aware of it.
How to prevent your Facebook from being hacked…
It’s really quite simple to prevent your Facebook account from being hijacked. Just follow these simple steps:
1. Never, ever give your Facebook username and password to anyone.
2. Whenever you’re on a Facebook login screen, make sure you’re logging into an official Facebook page. If you are ever unexpectedly presented with a login screen, simply close your browser and open a new one. Then navigate back to Facebook.com and sign in.
3. Share this post with as many people as you can. The more people realize this, the less effective hackers will be, after all, knowledge is power.
What to do if your Facebook account has already been hacked or you suspect it may have been “phishing”…
1. If your computer has been infected with a virus or malware, you should run antivirus software to remove these harmful programs and keep your information safe.
2. If you can access your Facebook account, please change or reset your account password as soon as possible to block any external access to your account.
3. If your account has been locked or suspended due to phishing or spamming, your best option is to simply start a new profile. I have heard from many that trying to get Facebook to reactivate an account is a useless lesson.